WCA Board Extends Management Company Contract

The May 10 meeting of the WCA Board saw directors vote 5-2 to extend the contract they have with their management company, Greenacre Properties, Inc.

The meeting opened with Westchase Community Association (WCA) Board of Directors acknowledging Bivens Orthodontics for support of Movies in the Park.

WCA Board President Ruben Collazo presented Bivens Orthodontics Marketing Specialist Rhonda Danzebrink with a medallion at the May meeting. “The community is not just about neighbors but also about small businesses that provide the services people need,” said Collazo.

During the open forum directors heard from a homeowner confused about the $5,000 in fines on a foreclosed house he had bought. Collazo told him that since the matter was now with legal counsel, he would have to discuss the matter with the attorney.

Harbor Links Voting Member Nancy Sells said she wanted to address the abuse WCA staff was receiving from some members of the Westchase Neighborhood News Facebook group. She said that people need to realize that the staff was working for the community’s good.

Director Ashley Wait-Woodcock said that the Government Affairs Committee (GAC) was working with the Department of Public Works to address parking concerns and driver who are ignoring West Park Village stop signs and that the county would be sending an engineer to look at the neighborhood issues.

GAC Chair Rick Goldstein said that TECO had cleared up the problem areas where electricity outages regularly occurred in Westchase. Goldstein also said that once construction was complete at the intersection of Montague and Linebaugh, the traffic signal would be altered to get traffic flowing on Montague to help alleviate traffic issues during Davidsen Middle School drop off and pick up times.

Members of the Covenants Committee attended the meeting to ask directors to give them information about the reasons that committee fines for unresolved deed restriction violations were tabled. “One of the reasons we are puzzled is why something gets tabled repeatedly,” said Covenants Committee Member Mary Griffin. “Is there any way to include information on why something is tabled?”

Collazo said he had talked to Community Association Manager Charlotte Adams about briefing her before she attends the committee meetings. Director Brian Ross added, “Sometimes it is hard to say why everything was tabled. If the Covenants Committee doesn’t know, I think it’s good because it means there are multiple examinations of the file. It is a fresh review.”

Griffin responded, “It is hard to look at the same violation and for one it has been tabled seven times and the other two times and be consistent. I find it difficult to defend the WCA, and the time it takes for people to get repairs adds to the problem of people thinking the process is unfair when we don’t know why something was tabled.”

Ross pointed out that out of 10,000 inspections a month, the WCA received maybe one complaint. Discussion, however, turned back to the Westchase Facebook group’s comments. Sells said, “Complaints are rampant and getting worse.”

WCA Director Forrest Baumhover observed, “For the past nine months for every single negative comment about the WCA on Facebook that I’ve noticed, I’ve offered to talk one-to-one with everyone who I thought had a legitimate gripe. I’ve extended the invitation to six to eight people. Zero people have taken me up on my offer, but the offer still stands.”

“You have to take a lot of what you read on Facebook with a grain of salt,” said Wait-Woodcock. “If people do what they are supposed to do after the first, second or third violation notice, then there would not be a problem. I don’t think we should jump just because people are complaining on Facebook.”

West Park Village Voting Member Mary Griffin said she disagreed, saying, “I’m worried about the impression it makes.”

Turning to other matters, directors approved a request from the local Boy Scout Troop to use a Westchase pool for badge swim requirement tests.

A Bridges homeowners’ appeal was denied 6-1 with Wait-Woodcock casting the dissenting vote. Directors denied the appeal because he had not replaced the sod in his yard even though he had said it would be replaced in February. Before the meeting the homeowner had sent an email detailing his perceived mistreatment by members of the Covenants Committee, who he said made a joke about him and laughed at him in front of his children. Goldstein asked him to clarify what had happened and Wait-Woodcock also asked for details of the encounter, but Director Joaquin Arrillaga pointed out that since the matter may potentially become a legal issue, the board should stop talking about it.

Directors voted 5-2 with Ross and Wait-Woodcock casting the dissenting votes to renew Greenacre Properties, Inc.’s contract to manage the WCA. Ross said he was opposing the motion because he thought they owed it to the community to put the contract out for a bid and include management of social media sites as something the property management company should address. Collazo said he supported the motion because he did not think they needed to change staff.

Directors approved a request from Community Association Manager Debbie Sainz to have Arehna Engineering test the subsurface soil at the West Park Village tennis courts to determine why the courts are cracking.